Preaching Beyond The Pulpit, A Hindu Temple – Part 1

An evangelism opportunity came my way recently. A property maintenance contract at a Hindu temple to be precise. Now some Christians might balk at the prospect of either being at a pagan house of worship or else maintaining one for its users. I must admit that there’s a certain, “I can’t believe what I just did” kinda feeling to it. But really it’s not much different to what I’ve done in the past, street preaching. It’s just been awhile and I’m sure the nervousness will subside. Like the times when you decide to street preach but balk slightly before a session. I know street preaching and witnessing at a job site are not identical evangelistic scenarios. But I brought it up because they are both witnessing environments and are usually deemed by most Christians to be extreme places to evangelize. So I’m not really acting out of character here. Preaching beyond the pulpit seems to be my niche.

The question of whether or not a Christian should be making/keeping a pagan temple fit for use, will grate the pietists I suspect. But I think evangelism trumps this. For what it’s worth, bring forth your arguments I’m open to being persuaded.

Anyhow, the whole point of this post is to share the encounters I have (I’ll fictionalize names and places to protect the identity of persons) while being there and maybe give some insights into a method for the evangel. Other than this you may find me talking about academic Hinduism vs the Hinduism of “the man on the street” so to speak. I may also share what I find in my studies of Hinduism (I’m open to receiving any resources from readers). Currently I’m listening to HOPWAG podcast on Indian philosophy, it’s not bad so far.

I’m currently learning the basics of Hinduism, understood in the context of Indian philosophy. Certain texts are of interest: the Vedas and the Mahabharata. The former has a commentary Upanishads, the latter a kind of interlude in the text, the Bhagavad Gita.

I expect to find many opportunities for evangelism here, as these kinds of contracts tend to provide a somewhat relaxed atmosphere. If this is not the case I will have to step up by seeking these opportunities outside business hours. So however it pans out I’ll try to keep tabs on the major events.